DaytonDailyNews.com

DAYTON — State political party leaders exchanged accusations on Thursday, Aug. 14, in a brouhaha over a quirk in Ohio law that for six days only will allow people to simultaneously register to vote and cast an absentee ballot.

Ohio Republican Party Deputy Chairman Kevin DeWine threatened court action if Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner doesn't stop it from happening. State Rep. DeWine, R-Fairborn, said it opens up the process to fraud and he accused Democrats of plotting to take advantage of the early voting window.

He said Democrats have a plan to create "an illegal loophole in the law to try to advance same-day registration."

Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern accused DeWine of creating a conspiracy that was lacking only in "tinfoil hats" and said DeWine voted for the law that included the window.

"We see the efforts of the Republican party over the course of the last couple of days to deflect, confuse and suppress voters," Redfern said. "(DeWine) practiced the art of conspiracy, fingerpointing.

"Perhaps he's looking for Bigfoot next."

Brunner said the law, adopted by the Republican-controlled Ohio legislature, has been in place since 2006 and there have been no problems with voter fraud. On Wednesday she issued a directive for how all boards of election should handle same-day registrations and absentee votes, and ordered them to delay voting if there was a question about the registrant's information.

Steve Harsman, director of the Montgomery County Board of Elections, also has seen no problems, nor does he think there will be an issue during this election.

He said the law sets the opening of absentee voting for Sept. 30 and the voter registration deadline on Oct. 6. So people who want to vote absentee but are not registered can, during that period only, come to the board of elections and do both.

Under normal circumstances outside that period the board would send a verification card by mail to the registrant. When cards are returned as undeliverable, the registrant has to vote on a provisional ballot, giving the board more time to verify the accuracy of the registrant's information, Harsman said.

Voting rights advocate Ellis Jacobs supports Brunner's directive.

"A number of states have same-day registration and there is absolutely no evidence of it causing problems," said Jacobs, senior attorney at Advocates for Basic Legal Equality.